1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sandbag and a method of using it to fill the bags with sand in a continuous mechanized manner. This invention is more particularly concerned with 1) a bag that has a resilient and spring-like collar that allows for quick closure of the bag""s mouth, and with 2) the use of these bags to automate the sandbagging process so that the user can produce properly sealed sandbags through a series of automated steps.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several patents have been used for inventions that aid in sandbagging or provide partial automation, however no patent has been used on a method or apparatus that fully automates the sandbagging process.
Sandbagging has been and continues to be a solution to flooding, especially in sensitive emergency conditions. Unfortunately, the process of making sandbags has primarily consisted of having individuals manually shovel sand into bags and seal them. This is a time consuming and physically exhausting process. Furthermore, the manual production of sandbags is not an efficient method of preparing for a flood.
Other inventions partially automating the sandbagging process primarily focus on using a hopper and some guiding mechanism, such as a conveyor or a funnel, to direct sand into bags. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,552,346, 4,044,921, 4,184,522, 4,819,701, and 5,425,403 disclose inventions that use hoppers or other guiding means. These inventions, however, require a person to feed the bags into the machine""s holding means, direct the bags under the funneling element, and then staple or otherwise seal the open-end of the bag. Other inventions have dealt with a guiding or support means that facilitates directing the sand into a bag. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,743,742, 5,397,085 and 5,575,315 concern a shovel with a sandbag gripping means and two sandbag support structures respectively. Although these inventions save some time and eliminate the need for shoveling sand, they still require human labor to produce a properly filled and sealed sandbag.
The invention concerns a self-closing bag that facilitates the sandbagging process. Other inventions have disclosed bags that are continuously connected in a roll, bags that have a support structure integrated into the mouth of the bags, or bags with drawstrings. U.S. Pat. Nos. 518,574, 672,897, 1,338,375, 1,412,934, 1,503,961, 2,015,473, and 3,163,193 disclose bags with support structures integrated into the mouth of the bag so that the mouth can be easily closed. None of these patents, however, concern a self-closing bag. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,764 discloses a bag with a drawstring-closing means that requires a person to manually pull on the string to close the mouth. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,802,582 and 4,849,090 disclose inventions for continuously-connected bags that can be regularly stored in rolls, but do not concern self-closing bags.
It is of tremendous use for homeowners, cities and other governmental agencies to be able to produce tens of thousands of sandbags in a few hours, without the need to recruit hundreds of people to work in rainy or otherwise difficult environments. Property worth millions of dollars could be saved if sandbags were easily and quickly available. In recent years, floods have caused tens of millions of dollars in damages, and have required millions of sandbags to prevent even greater damage. All of these bags were filled one at a time by individuals.
An automated method of producing sandbags would save millions of man-hours of time and effort, and tens of millions of dollars of property damage.
This invention is for a bag that by its structure allows for an automated process of filling, sealing and stacking bags in a simple and inexpensive way. The object of this invention is to produce bags, and more specifically sandbags that facilitate the sandbagging process and allow for a method of producing sandbags with little or no human involvement. Although the invention described in this application can be used with bags made of different materials and the bags can be filled with many kinds of materials, sand and sandbags will be used as examples to illustrate one important application of the invention.
The sandbag can be made of many materials (such as hemp, plastic or other similarly flexible materials) and has a bottom, side walls (belonging to a tubular or multi-sided structure), and a mouth. The mouth is formed by two opposing flaps that are not connected to each other at their sides. The mouth can be opened by pulling the flaps in opposite directions. Because the flaps are not connected at the sides, they can be folded over to rest on the side walls of the sandbag.
The unique feature of this invention is the use of a flexible spring-like collar stay inserted around both mouth flaps of the sandbag, such that when the mouth is opened by pulling the flaps away from each other they will want to spring shut. The mouth opening is designed as a flap that opens along the top length of the bag, and therefore, is only joined to the rest of the bag along its transverse width. The collar stay is inserted into the mouth opening along the periphery of the flaps. The collar stay can be made from plastic, spring metal, or other similar material, and has the ability to bend up to 180xc2x0.
The bags can be stacked (or rolled) on top of each other with one flap in the open position, which means that the spring-like collar is bent 180xc2x0 from its resting position when the bags are stacked. Because the collar stays are designed to be at the least tension, i.e. at rest, in the closed position, as soon as pressure is removed from the top of each bag, the mouth flaps will suddenly spring back to the closed position. The sandbags can be packaged with one flap in the open position to be used in an automated sandbagging method that will use the bag""s ability to close its mouth to fill and seal the sandbag. The mouth will be secured shut by a sealing means such as that produced by two surfaces that when pushed together adhere to one another. An example is where one surface is made of small plastic loops and the other consists of many fibers that will insert into the many loops when pressed into them. One such sealing means is currently sold under the Velcro(copyright) trademark. For simplicity, this general type of sealing means will be referred to herein generally as hook-and-loop fastener.
The second object of this invention is to provide a method of automating the sandbag production by using the specially designed sandbags in a series of steps that removes one bag at a time from a stack or roll of bags that have been packaged with the mouth flaps in the open position. One bag is removed from the stack or roll and, with the mouth flap held open, is pulled towards the opening of a funnel-like sand feeder. As the bag nears the feeder""s open end, the open flap closes around the top side of the feeder""s open end. After having the mouth clamp around the feeder""s open end, it is filled with the proper amount of sand without spilling from its sides. As the sandbag fills with sand, its weight pulls it down a sloped ramp towards a collection area. The sandbags are connected to each other in such a way that as one bag fills with sand and slides down the ramp, it pulls the next sandbag towards the feeder""s open end and allows for the next bag to fill. The connection between the bags is cut as the bags go into the collection area. This method of filling sandbags can also include a means of stacking or piling the bags to the side of the apparatus that uses this sandbagging method.
More specifically, one embodiment of the method comprises a continuous supply of bags fed through a narrow-enough passageway that continues to hold the mouth flap in the open position. The open end of the funnel-like feeder rests on top of the end of the narrow passageway such that the sandbag slides out of the passageway with the bottom end first. As the mouth flap comes out of the passageway it begins to spring shut because the passageway structure is no longer holding it open. Because the feeder""s open end is above the passageway and is designed to fit inside the mouth of the sandbag, the mouth flap closes around the feeder""s open end so that the sand that flows through the feeder goes directly into the sandbag. A means of regulating the amount of sand per bag can be added so that a set volume of sand is placed in each bag within a set period of time. By controlling the volume and flow rate of the sand, each sandbag can be adequately filled before it starts sliding away from the feeder. Whether or not there is a volume or rate control on the feeder, the flow of sand will stop, by a closing means, after the sandbag slides away from the feeder so that sand is not spilling on top of the next sandbag before it is in place.
As the bags are pulling away from the feeder, the mouth flaps come together and close the mouth. In order to secure the seal and prevent sand from being forced out, a sealing means is added to the periphery of the mouth flaps. As discussed above, a hook-and-loop fastener is one such sealing means that can be added to the mouth flaps to adequately seal the flaps together to prevent sand from opening the bag during regular use. Staples, threads, clamps and drawstrings are some examples of other securing means.